Langley Park: A Preliminary Needs Assessment
William John Hanna with The 1995 Langley Park Project Research Team
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
LANGLEY PARK
The area now conventionally called "Langley Park," named
for the former owner's family property in England, is located in the
"inner-Beltway" portion of Prince George's County. Including Census Tracts
8056 and 8057, its quarter-circle area is bounded by the county line on the
west, University Boulevard on the south, and (approximately) Northwest Branch
on the north and east. Its 0.8225 square miles includes an estimated 1995
population if approximately 20,000.
Langley Park was a rural estate until after World War II, when developers
began to build the houses and apartments that attracted thousands of young
white families to what was becoming a new suburb. In 1969, an old resident
recalls, "everything you wanted was in the neighborhood," adding, "it was safe
enough back then to walk in."
Throughout the post-war years, Langley Park has remained a "starter community."
In the 1970s due in part to housing and school desegregation, there was a heavy
influx of African- Americans; and in the 1980s immigrants from Central America
(especially El Salvador) and other parts of the world moved to the area.
By 1990, Langley Park's two Census Tracts had diverged demographically.
The more northern 8057, which includes many single-dwelling units bordering
Northwest Branch, was characterized by an ethnically and racially mixed working
class population. Its median household income was $26,000. By contrast, tract
8056, filled with apartment houses near University Boulevard, was predominantly
Latino; its median household income was only $21,000. (The 1990 median household
income for the county was $33,000.)
THE LANGLEY PARK PROJECT
In December 1994, the Urban Studies and Planning Program of the
University of Maryland at College Park launched the Langley Park Project.
Professor William John Hanna is the Director. Its first activity was to conduct
a preliminary needs assessment of the area.
THE NEEDS OF LANGLEY PARK
The 1995 needs assessment of Langley Park spanned nine topical areas.
Each is complex, involving multiple stakeholders, institutions, opportunities,
constraints, and challenges. In general, the area's challenges include poverty,
fear of crime and deportation, social isolation, transience, a negative external
and internal image of the area, and political weakness. Here are some of the
assessment's highlights.
Families: The immigrants of Langley Park bring with them a heritage of
family strength. However, language and other cultural factors have created many
severe intergenerational conflicts as well as a high rate of domestic violence.
The need for two incomes and the lack of affordable daycare have created many
latch-key children and general family stress. Needs include more resources for
family support programs.
Language: According to the 1990 census and recent extrapolations, less
than half of Langley Park's 18-64 year old adults speak English at home. Long
working hours, the difficulty of English, and lack of language-acquisition
opportunities are among the explanations. There is a critical need for more
affordable and conveniently-scheduled English language classes. In the interim,
more bilingual governmental staffers are needed (only a small minority of
government offices currently can communicate with Spanish-speakers).
Education: In Langley Park, there is a high rate of student mobility
(for instance, only one-third of the students at Langley Park - McCormick
Elementary remained in school throughout the academic year), and the secondary
school program apparently fails to attract, retain, or well-educate many area
teenagers. There are some hard-working, dedicated school personnel.
